WYNDMOOR, PA –  When Philadelphia Catholic League Pitcher of the Year, Jake Kelchner, first decided to transfer from Spring-Ford High School to Archbishop Carroll, there was one thing at the front of his mind, winning a PCL title.

Academics were a driving force in his decision, but most importantly, he wanted to prove that he could play ball in a tougher league.

“I wanted to give myself a challenge,” said Kelchner. “I’m always like that, I always put myself into challenges that make me rise to the occasion and get better every single day. I mean, it drives me to wake up in the morning. I knew the PAC 10 wasn’t as strong as the PCL, so I knew I had to work this offseason to prepare for it.”

After their 10-5 victory over Cardinal O’Hara this Wednesday, Carroll secured themselves a spot against La Salle in the PCL championship at Immaculata University this Saturday, putting Kelchner just one step away from achieving his goal.

Carroll opened scoring in the bottom of the first after a double by Cole Chesnet and triple by Kelchner. The duo was responsible for a hefty share of Carroll’s offensive output on the day.

Mistakes by both teams fueled a large portion of scoring early on. O’Hara was able to tie the game at one in the top of second after a throwing error by pitcher Alex Cornell allowed Jim White to score from second. It seemed as though Carroll retook the lead in the bottom of the inning after a sac fly by Sean Lawley scored Dan Crossan, but an appeal to the umpire found he left the bag early and was out.

An O’Hara pitching change in the third would then allow Carroll to take the one run lead after consecutive balks by pitcher Bryan Pazulski advanced Tyler Kehoe from second to home.

The fifth inning is when Carroll completely broke the game open. After a single by Max Hitman, the Patriots would take a one run lead on an RBI double by Chesnet. Then with one man on and one out, Kelchner came to the plate and autographed a baseball all the way over the wall in right center field. With one swing of the bat, Carroll had taken complete control of the game.

“(Rounding the bases) felt fantastic. Right off the bat, you knew it was gone and that just broke open the game. It brought the spirits up, it was instant momentum,” said Chesnet.

A three run sixth inning would put the finishing punctuation on O’Hara’s last sentence. To their credit, the Lions fought until the last out and earned the respect of their opponents.

“I know these guys got my back and it was just a relief not having to come out here and then come back Saturday,” said Kelchner, an Alabama University commit. “I know they had my back and I didn’t want to come into this game just because I just want to rest up for Saturday.”

The stage is now set for Carroll’s PCL championship meeting with La Salle, whom the Patriots beat in the regular season 5-4. However, neither team should be going into this game expecting a breeze.

“La Salle’s a good team, we know we’re probably going to see Miller, but they’re going to have to see Kelch and we have to have timely hitting and do what we’ve done the last two games and hit the ball,” Chesnet said.